A casino is an establishment for certain types of gambling. In some places, it is also known as a gaming house or a gambling hall. Casinos often are combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shops, and other tourist attractions. The elegance of one such casino, in the spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany, was praised by Hollywood actress Marlene Dietrich in 1931.
Unlike some other forms of gambling, where the odds of winning are determined by random chance, casinos make money because each game has a built in advantage for the casino. This edge may be as low as two percent, but it adds up over millions of bets, earning casinos enough to build elaborate hotels, fountains, towers and replicas of famous landmarks.
In the United States, most of the larger casinos are owned by corporations, while some are run by charitable organizations. In 2005, the typical American casino gambler was a forty-six-year-old woman from a household with above-average income.
Many casinos feature a wide variety of games, including card and table games such as blackjack and poker; video slot machines; and electronic roulette and dice. Some casinos specialize in traditional Far Eastern games such as sic bo, fan-tan and pai gow. Casinos use various security measures to deter cheating and stealing. These include the use of “eye in the sky” cameras that monitor every table, window and doorway, and the ability to zoom in on suspicious patrons. Security personnel also watch the regular patterns of shuffles, dealing and betting, so that any deviation from those expectations can be quickly spotted.